The Innocent Accomplice
by SirBleu
Summary: Dawn is taken for ransom by two mysterious, ruthless men. Hold on. Maybe one of them isn't as horrible as she thought. Maybe. - Light Ikarishipping PaulxDawn if you squint.


I know it's been forever since I uploaded anything. I know, and I'm sorry.

Cross your fingers that this story doesn't absolutely crash and burn, because I don't have a plan.

3.. 2.. 1..

Enjoy!

* * *

They wanted money. Doesn't everyone in the world want money? It's what people spend many hours of many days working for. I guess not everyone has the patience to work for it, so they just steal it from others.

I was running. The snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves could not be heard over the beating of my heart. Two men were chasing me. Why were they chasing me? I don't even know. Branches hit me in the face as I trample through the forest. My life has never seemed so precious to me before now, but I guess that's how it always works. You don't realize just how fragile your time is until it's rapidly running out.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of glass shattering. I was sitting in a wooden chair with my hands bound behind me. "What am I doing here?" My words were slurred, they must've drugged me.

A man emerges from the corner of the room and sits on a chair in front of me. "Look who decided to wake up."

I almost growl, "Who are you?"

He laughs, "That doesn't matter. What matters is who _you_ are. You're the daughter of a very rich woman: Johanna Berlitz. Connecting the dots here?"

Obviously I was 'connecting the dots'. This man is planning on holding me ransom. I should've stayed home today. "Okay. How long do you plan on keeping me here?"

"As long as it takes." The smile on his face made me taste bile. How could anyone do something like this without hating themself afterwards? He spoke again, "I'll be back in just a little while to come check on you. Don't do anything stupid."

That set me off, "Me? You're keeping a helpless girl as prisoner for money! That's more stupid than anything I could ever do!" I thrashed my hands against the back of the chair, praying that the ropes would give away. They never did. "People are going to notice that I'm missing! What do you plan on doing when they ask questions?"

The man simply stared at me before waving someone over. "Paul. Make sure she doesn't get out. I need to go run some errands. I'll be back within the next hour or so." Then he walked out.

A boy walked over, about my age. He looked oddly familiar. The boy named Paul sat in the chair was previously occupied by the older man. He grunted, "Alright, Reggie." As soon as I heard his voice I remembered him - only because he never spoke, so when he did, people remembered. We once went to the same school. He'd been placed in my homeroom a couple of times.

"Paul?"

He looked at me with a sour expression before responding, "What?"

I coughed before continuing, "Why are you doing this?"

"Reggie needs the money." Then I remembered who Reggie was. I had seen him once or twice when family members came to the school. His.. dad, maybe? It was as though Paul read my mind. "He's my brother."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Paul stayed in the chair, but didn't talk after that. I interrupted the silence because I figured it'd be the last time that I got to talk to anyone for a while - because I was sure that Reggie would have me put in a more secluded room soon. "You don't have to do it, y'know."

He looked troubled. "Yeah I do. Reggie told me himself. I have no choice."

"You do have a choice."

"No. No, I really don't."

I looked at him until whatever expression he was wearing lost all meaning. "Yes you do."

My persistence must've made something in him snap because he flew out of the chair and let it fall to the floor, then he walked out. Great, now I just have to sit here until his psycho brother gets back. In the meantime, I can just try to free my hands from these ropes.

After what I'm guessing was five minutes, I give up on the ropes. Not knowing what time it is starts to get infuriating. They already kidnapped me. Would it kill them to just tell me how long I've been here? Then Paul walks in holding something. Upon further inspection, I see that it's a tray.

He fixes the chair and sits in it. "I thought you might be hungry."

I don't say anything, and he realizes that my hands are still tied behind me. "Oh yeah." He unties them and hands me the tray. "Don't get any ideas. Trust me, you do not want to run off."

Placing the tray on my knees, I roll my wrists around; knowing a rash will form if I have to put up with this for much longer. Looking at the tray, I don't think that now is a very appropriate time to be eating, so I sit it on the ground next to me.

I see Paul cast a wary look at my hands that he just freed, folded on my lap. "Stop looking at me like that."

He flinched a little before narrowing his eyes, "Like what?"

"Like that." I pointed at his face. "Like I'm going to get up and run or something."

"How do I know that you won't?" He chewed on the inside of his cheek.

I was tempted to laugh, "You're twice my size. If I ran, I'm sure you'd catch me. Now, don't get me wrong, I really am thinking about testing my odds." Just then, I hop out of the seat and stand behind it.

His eyes widen. "Don't."

It is at that moment that I bolt for the door. The door is heavy, but I manage to open it before Paul can register what's happening. I'm not sure where I am, but I'm also not sure that it matters. As long as I can hide from them for long enough, maybe I can come up with a plan of escape.

My eyes scan the walls as my feet urge me further down the foreign hallway. I imagine that I'm in the forest again, stepping on fallen leaves and lone branches. The sound coming from my heart doesn't feel natural and I can only pray that, if Paul is trying to find me, he cannot hear it.

Finally, I take a sharp turn to the right and find a hallway so small that it is almost completely hidden. Then I hear the distant slam of a door, followed by Reggie's voice, "I'm ba-ack!"

Then I hear Paul. "She got out. Well, I mean, not _out_. She's somewhere around here, but I don't know where."

A stream of swears come out of Reggie's mouth before I hear his hand slam down on something. "Go find her!"

I wince as I see Paul run around trying to find me, yelling to Reggie when he discovers that I'm not in a room. Then he stops outside of the narrow hallway that I'm in. My face goes pale when he turns and looks right at me. Reggie hollers, "Did you find her!?"

Paul's eyes lock on mine and I'm sure that he'll give me away. Then he intertwines his fingers behind his neck and sighs, "Not yet!" He gestures for me to come towards him, but I shake my head. Suddenly, I realize that he's dragging me to another room. "Stay in here."

I'm about to ask why he didn't give away my location, but Paul leaves me alone in the room and shuts the door behind him.

Pacing the small room, my mind resumes to wondering why the biggest jerk ever, Paul, just saved me from his own brother. Makes no sense. Then the door opens and my body spins around so that I can see who opened it. "Finally!"

His hand covers my mouth. "Shut up, stupid! If he hears you, we're both in trouble."

I reached up and took his hand away from my mouth. "Don't touch me." We both get quiet before I whisper through the dark room. "Why did you do it?"

Paul grunted, "I just think this is all pointless."

Due to the fact that there were no lights in the room, I was as good as blind, but I stumbled around the room until I found him. "Then why are you helping him?"

"Helping him? I'm secretly standing in a closet with the girl that he just kidnapped. How is that helping?"

I laughed and fumbled for his hand, taking it into both of my own. "Well thank you."

He tried to talk, but just ended up saying nothing. Then, he pulled me out of the room and towards a large door. "I think you should go. Stay home for a few days until this blows over, and don't go anywhere by yourself unless you just want to be brought right back here."

My eyes find their way down to his hand, still being suffocated by mine. "Okay." I open the door to leave, but look at him one last time. "Thanks again."

He holds a hand in the air. "Don't mention it."

When I get home, I can't help but share the story with my mom. She, of course, freaks out and threatens to report it, but I beg her not to. Though I wouldn't mind Reggie earning a few years in prison, I don't believe that Paul deserves it. Afterall, he saw through his brother's antics and let me go. He is but an innocent accomplice of which I am greatly thankful for.

* * *

It was horrible. Tell me it was horrible. I am seriously ashamed by how long that took me, but maybe someone will like it. Did you like it? Yes? Oh.. no? Well, okay then.

Review maybe? ^-^


End file.
